Award Winners Announced For 17th Annual Catalyst Story Institute Content Festival

The Catalyst Story Institute has announced its awards for outstanding achievement in independent episodic content at its 17th Annual Content Festival that took place from September 28th through October 1st.

As the nation's longest running indie TV festival, awards were handed out across genres from comedy and unscripted documentaries to animation, drama, and thriller.

The Catalyst Content Festival is a four-day annual event in Duluth, Minnesota where selected pitches, scripts, produced pilots/series and other creative content are showcased for industry experts and the general public. The festival also included live and virtual panel discussions and social events with industry leaders. Current and past honorees include students, first-time writers and producers, industry veterans, and Emmy Award winners, from across the country and around the globe.

This year's Content Festival featured special virtual Q&As with iconic comedy writer, producer, and actress Tina Fey, and legendary talk show host, comedian, writer and producer David Letterman as well as the award-winning actor best known for his role on Seinfeld, Jason Alexander. In addition, writer and producer Lee Aronsohn (Co- Creator, Two and A Half Men) held live in-person workshops and panel discussions for indie TV comedy creators.

"This year's Catalyst Festival highlighted new voices in television, and our award winners demonstrate true excellence, talent, and innovation," said Philip Gilpin, CEO & Executive Director of the Catalyst Story Institute. "The creativity on display at this year's festival shows that the future of the Indie TV industry is incredibly rich with powerful stories."

For the 2022 program, Catalyst expanded submission categories beyond traditional television to include thrillers, social media, and literary content in book, short-form, and other narrative formats.

This year's award winners - selected after rounds of review by industry judges, consisting of industry professionals from across the country - are as follows:

AWARD WINNERS

• OUTSTANDING PILOT PITCH - Hans Obma, A Question of Service

• OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES - Hans Obma, A Question of Service

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES - Sophia Conger & Rebecca Dearden, Sugar Baby

• OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY - Beth Napoli, A Question of Service

• OUTSTANDING EDITING - Eddie Frente, Brownsville Bred

• OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY SERIES - Kevin Rumley, Hunger Strike Against Ecocide

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY PERFORMANCE - Keely Bochicchio-Sipos, Sugar Baby

• OUTSTANDING ACTOR DRAMA PERFORMANCE - Hans Obma, A Question of Service

• OUTSTANDING ACTRESS DRAMA PERFORMANCE - Bridgitte Silva, Chiqui

• OUTSTANDING COMEDIC ENSEMBLE CAST - Camp Greenwood

• OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC ENSEMBLE CAST - Last Name Unknown

• OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR DRAMA - Jenna Sutch, Death Doula

• OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR COMEDY - Kourtney Bell, Camp Greenwood

• OUTSTANDING THRILLER SERIES - Maxie Rockymore, Neptune Rising

• OUTSTANDING DRAMA SCRIPT - Mark Brown & Whitni Resides, Redneck Army

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY SCRIPT - Stephanie Bast, Wash Your Birdie: 101 Things That Can Crawl Up your Vagina and Kill You

• OUTSTANDING INNOVATION - Grace Ng, Crash Punks

• OUTSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA SERIES - Becca Schall & Jessica Taylor, Victorian Ladies

• OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK - Susan Thurston, Sister of Grendel

• OUTSTANDING PODCAST - Pat Treuer, Of The Comics

• OUTSTANDING TABLE READ - Susan Marks, All That Glitters

• OUTSTANDING MINNESOTA SERIES - Brittany Parker & Tony Denman, Locally Grown Comedy

Headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, the Catalyst Story Institute works with industry advisors and partners including the National Academy of Television Arts and

Sciences (NATAS) and the Second City Film School to help up-and-coming talent advance their careers, enhance their creative skills, and build business relationships. As the nation's premiere year-round 501(c)3 non-profit professional development program for Indie TV, Catalyst prepares creators for industry meetings and pitch sessions through a series of seminars, workshops, mentorship, and special events held across the country. This year's festival was sponsored in part by Entertainmint and WDSE-WRPT.

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